Power button and other keys won't respond

No worries, it's not the usual won't boot issue. I googled for my prob night and day. Atm the book runs without battery.

1. When I plug in the MacBook Pro Mid 2011 into a power socket it starts fine, but not due pressing the power button. There is nothing. Same for shut off. Can shut down via Software (Mavericks) but the power button is "dead".

2. Letters and numbers won't respond. The function keys work and some of the "edgy" keys, enter, shift, arrows. But not the normal letters and number. I'm using an external keyboard atm.

The track pad works fine.

Thanks for any help. I can't solve this issue. Tried all the common key combination magic tricks. No success.

Thanks for your comment. No, not as far as I know. What's puzzling me is that some keys are working, I even re-seated the ribbon cable to be sure that this is not the culprit. From the numbers only the 0 responds, no letter, but all the function keys work. The external keyboard works fine. What do you think about cleaning with 99% isopropanol? Is is worth a try?

1 Answer

Can you try plugging in an external USB keyboard? Does it work correctly?

If it does I would suspect the Analog to Digital (A/D) logic within the keyboard is messed up. Which would mean replacing the keyboard (top case assembly).

As you would need to completely treat the system down the issue is which makes better sense here trying to repair the keyboard or just replacing it. Given the amount of work and the likelihood of not fixing the keyboard I would just replace the complete top case.

Ah, thanks very much. I could get the power button working: did a hard reset of the SMC, and the power button works now. Yes, an external usb keyboard works correctly. Funny is, I started cleaning with 99% isopropanol very carefully with a soft brush, and hey, some of the keys woke up. A bit weired though, numbers together with = or others with § and the like, some other numbers and letters are correct. It seems the "middle" three rows are dead. The backlight is still working well.

If Isopropyl alcohol is improving things then you likely had spilled something into the keyboard (soda/coffee). The problem here is the spillage is likely deeper inside. Which is why I go all the way down to the top case. Once you get there you can try cleaning things more deeply or just replace the top case.